Knitting machine



Oct. 19, 1937; w, gno pwg ET AL $096,667

KNITTING moans Filed Jan. 10, 1955 s Sheet-Sheet 1 ,24 Z 20 Jar.zatfiflma meaw Oct. 19, 1937. A. w. BROADWELL ET AL I 2,096,667

KNI TTIN G MACHINE Filed Jan. 10, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 man uuuu Oct 19, 1937; A. w. BRoADwELL ET AL. 5 955 KNITTING momma Filed Jan. 10, 1935 s Sheets-Shed s Patented on. '19, 1937 l 2,096,667

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE access-r KNITTING MACHINE Azure Broadwell and Adam M. Cox, Lynchburg, Va assignors to Lynchburg Hosiery ltflllsirflhinc Lynchbnrg, Va.. a corporation of Application January 10, 1935, Serial No. 1,283 12 Claims. (CL 66-49) Our invention relates to improvements in cirour combined dividing and center cam eliminates cular knitting machines having independent this trouble. needles, and more especially to hosiery knitting A further'object of the invention is to provide machines, though not necessarily so limited. an improved yarn feeding means designedfor The main object of the invention is to improve use particularly with other parts of our improved 6 the operation of the machines in knitting fabrics machine and which has been found to be eswith reinforced areas. It is common practice in sential for the making of ourimproved type of the art to move a splicing yarn finger into and three-ply sectional splicing, but which is not out of operation at each rotation of the machine necessarily limited to such use. Such yarn feed- 10 but it has proved almost impossible to delimit lng means, in machines ofthe type above referred l0 accurately the spliced area in this way, as it is to, usually comprises a plurality of yarn fingers necessary for thispurpose that this yarn be mounted in a set on a common pivot and each entered and withdrawn always at the same finger is provided with a separate yarn which is needles throughout the spliced area. In some guided to the needles either alone or in conjunccases the needles have been split at a distance tion with yarns from another finger or fingers. 15

from the main feed to receive a splicing yarn conventionally these fingers have each a vertical fed by a separate guide remote from said feed passage or orifice in the'end adjacent the needle but by our invention it is possible to feed all row and the yarn is inserteddownward through yarns at the same point, thus simplifying the such passage. In some situations it is a matter needle cam structure and avoiding an additional -of very considerable difiiculty for the knitter to 20 reciprocation of the needles in each spliced thread up such close-feed fingers u those shown course. at l6 and ll 'of Cox Patent 1,891,023, this being According to our invention the splicing yam notably the case in such machines as the Scott 8: guide remains -in operative position throughout Williams HH spiral knitting machine, exemplified 25.the splicing operation. This has another ad- .in ScottPatent 1,282,958 and in the Scott 81 vantage, in that with the previous methods of Williams RI machine, exemplified in Scott sectional splicing the plating was uncertain and Patent 1,641,554, September 6, 1927. Such irregular, which is particularly undesirable where fingers are threaded by inserting a yarn downyarns of different color or character are being ward through the vertical passage from top to knitted in platin'g relation, 'e. g. in so-called bottom, then thrusting a small hook needle into 30 white-foot stockings with an inner white yarn the orifice (I8 of the Cox patent) to catch the plated on an outer colored yarn, in whichcase yarn and then pulling the yarn inward through also the outer yarn is often silk or rayon while said orifice. The difiiculty inthreading up such the inner yarn is cotton. By the use of our inmachines is occasioned mainly by the crowded vention it is possible to knit reinforced areas condition of the various parts and especially by 35 with three yarns plated on one another and with the dial. which is very close to the yarn fingers the intermediate reinforcing yarn sandwiched beand which hinders the knitter from obtaining tween the face,yarn and the inside. yarn and ready, access to said fingers. With bur construcpositively held in place, whereby a cheaper yarn tion the yarn can readily be inserted without 40 can be used for splicing, but an improved product any interference due to the presence of the 40 is made. Forexample, we may use a: cotton am or other similarly-located parts. splicing yam between an acetate inside Yarn and Referring to the drawings, which are made a a rayon face yarn of regenerated cellulose, the pm of this application in which similar two latter yarns entirely covering the intermedireference characters indicate similar parts;

:15 z'zif i ggg may of course use any other like Fig. 1 is a partial vertical section of a machine Another advantage of our construction is that embodying our improvemfints' f 1 81 wecan make a double sole or high splice and a t eleva on o spec t. mack wrap work (see Taubel Patent 1,619,788) finger shown in but on an enlarged or float stitchplating on the same machine and. section on 11119 0f 8- 2,

at the-same time. Fig. 4, an end view of the set of yarn fingers A further advantage of our mechanism is found in Preferred Operating Position for Sp in the'fact that other dividing cams, e. g. radially looki g from the ri t in F 1 movable cams or cams less firmly supported than Fig. 5, an elevation of a yarn finger, partly Ours, break a great many needle butts whereas in section; 55

idle.

Fig. 6, an elevation of the needle cams in the position assumed during a splicing operation,

Fig. 7, a similar view, during heel and toe knittin Fig. 8, a development of yam-finger controlling cams on the cam drum,

Fig. 9, a rear elevation of our improved centercam and its stand,

Fig. 10, a view of the heel portion of a stock- 8,

Figs. 11, 12 and. 13 illustrate various uses of our invention, and

Fig. 14 shows the diflerent needles used by us.

In the drawings, reference character Ill indicates a needle cylinder which may be of any conventional or desirable type and which is formed with needle slots for holding the needles II, which needles are reciprocatcd by needle cams on a cam ring l2. The sinkers I3, the sinker ring I4 and other coacting parts may be such as are commonly used.

A yarn finger is indicated at l5, this yarn finger being pivoted at It and being acted on by a spring l'l, anchored at l8, to bring it to the posivtion shown in Fig. 1. A thrust bar [9 serves to move the yarn finger about its pivot to an idle position where its yarn is not taken by the needles, this bar being moved by conventional pattern mechanism. In the machine here par-- ticularly referred to there are five yarn fingers as indicated in Fig. 4, the finger l5 supplying a splicing yarn, the finger l5a, the yarn that is at the inside of the finished stocking and the finger l5d the face yarn which appears at the outside of the finished stocking, while fingers I51: and I are It will be noted that finger |5d is somewhat elevated so that-it feeds its yarn to all the needles right under their hooks, while fingers I5 and l5a rest on the throat plate and fingers I51) and l5c are also located at a higher level than finger l5 in certain cases, all as determined by the pattern mechanism which governs them.

It will be noted that the yarn fingers l5 and 15d are provided with extensions or noses 20 at their forward ends, the purpose of these extensions being to guide their yarns close to the needles and directly under the hooks of the same. The yarn of finger I5 is at a higher elevation than that of finger i5a, and by reason of the relative positions of the fingers the splicing yarn is sandwiched in between the other two yarns during a splicing operation, at which time only the short-butt needles take yarn from finger l5, as hereinafter more fully explained. Adjustable pins 2| are provided, as shown in Fig. 1, to determine closely the feeding position of such fingers as those at l5 and I50, and set screws 22 are provided for holding the pins in adjusted position. Such yarn fingers as those at l5 and lid are provided with vertical passages 23, as usual, so that yarns may be passed vertically downward through said fingers if desired, or may be pushed out through the extensions 20 when it is desired that they shall lie close to the needles. In order to facilitate threading up of such yarn fingers we provide a lateral recess 24 in one side face of each of the fiat fingers, the recesses preferably tapering back toward the rear of the needle and being preferably on a level with the orifice in ,extension 20. This renders it a simple matter to thread up by passing a yarn downward through the orifice 23 and then pushing it through the passage in nose It with'a blunt instrument, the finger to be threaded being preferably in raised (idle) position.

It will be seen that the recess 24 furnishes 9.

- relatively large guiding opening for such a blunt The entrance to this hole is rounded off as shownat 20' and this feature, in conjunction with the large size of the recess 24 makes it easy to thread up the finger without danger of abrading or cutting the yarn, the size of recess 24 also enabling us to round off this part so as to make the path of travel easier, where heretofore the yarn turned at a right angle. I

The needle circle comprises a segment of long butt needles and a segment of short butt needles, as usual in hosiery machines, the long butt needles being idled during the knitting of heels and toes and the short butt needles being progressively idled and returned to action by the usual pickers. As it is our intention to splice on all the short butt needles we have provided an improved cam for this purpose, comprising a combined top center cam and dividing cam, such cam being shown at 25. It is mounted for sliding movement, circumferentially of the machine, on the usual standard 26 which also carries the bottom center cam 21. The standard is slotted at 29 and the slot holds a pair of screws 28 secured to the cam 25, the length of the slot being such that the screws have a limited horizontal movement whereby cam 25 may move from the position of Fig. 6 to that of Fig. 7. In the first position it is close to the left hand stitch cam 30, so that all the needles can travel unusually far to the left before being retracted, thus providing ample room for the needles to take the yarn of finger 15d before they are retracted and insuring that the long butt needles will not take the splicing yarn in their downward movement, said yarn being fed to the short butt needles directly under their hooks, but not being taken by the long butt needles. An unusually widespa ce is thus pro? vided between the first feed I 5d and the point where the center cam begins to retract the needles, whereby we are enabled to perform various operations after the first yarn is taken and before the needles begin to move downward under control of the center cam. At this time the butts of long buttcneedles, which butts are shown in solid black at 3|, will pass under the center cam, but the short butts 32 of the short butt needles can pass by the cam 25 without being 112- tracted, due to the fact that the cam '25 is reduced in thickness at 33. The path of the hooks of the long butt needles is shown-in Fig.4 at 34, while that of the short butt needle hooks is shown at 35, in so far as said paths are separate.

During reciprocatory knitting the cam 25 is i moved back and forth between the stitch cams 30 and 36 by "the needle butts of the short butt needles so as to afford ample space for their passage. When knitting with three yarns as described the body of the stocking is composed of the two main or body yarnsof fingers l5a and 15d plated one on the other, but our invention also has utility in knitting a single ply stocking with plated areas reinforced by a splicing yarn, wherein also the plating is improved and the reinforced areas are sharply defined by straight and clean lateral margins as above explained.

A drum 3'! of conventional character actuates the push bars l9, this drum being provided with cams 38 arranged in five rows (Fig. 8) in ooas at 381:, for the purpose of elevat ng fingers to v special feeding levels, reference being had to finger lid in Fig. Figs. 11 to 13.

While these cams and yarn fingers are arranged for the present purpose, in the way shown in Fig. 8, it will be obvious that other arrangements are 4 and to other levels shown in within the spirit of the invention; e. g. the splicing finger might brat the extreme left of the set in Fig. 4, (i. e., the first finger may be used for this purpose) other fingers respectively might provide the inside yarn or the outer facing yarn,

etc. What is essential to our purpose is that the splicing yarn finger is held in feeding position throughout the making of a spliced area, instead of being moved in and out at each rotation of the machine. When bringing the finger l5 into and out of action, as at the beginning and at the end of a splicing operation, it must of course be moved into and out of. action during the time when the long butt needles are passing it, since otherwise thenose would strike the needle hooks and cause damage.

Fig. 11 illustrates the utility of our special dividing and center cam for making float-stitch omamentation'in a stocking having sectionally spliced areas with straight and clean sides, the mechanism being shown as arranged for making threelayer spliced areas, plated as above described, although we do not limit ourselves to such three-layer splicing. According to this figure the yarn-fingers are as in Fig. 4, as are also the cams a, 21a and a but cam 36:: is radially movable and is shown as being in retracted position, the needles being raised by means or jacks, as in Grothey Patent No. 1,678,385, July 24, 1928 or by other suitable means. Certain of the long-butt needles 3la as illustrated at A are allowed to remain in low position so that their hooks follow line as they pass the first finger lid and thus they do not take the normally outside yarn of-finger l5'd. This yarn extends along the chord of an arc of the needle circle and thus floats back of the inside yarn which is taken by said needles A and knitted into stitches that appear on the face of the fabric. If the stocking has an outer black plating yarn and an inner white plating yarn, white figures will. thus be formed on the outside of the stocking. This operation, is made possible by the wide space between the first finger. lid and the point where the center cam begins to retract needles,

but is impossible with the center cam in the usual position midway of the two stitch cams 38a and Figure 12 illustrates the making of mock wrap work in a machine employing our special center cam and the splicing finger which remains in position throughout the knitting of a spliced area; as in the case of Figs. 4 and 11. In this figure the cams 25b, 21b, 30b and 36b are or may all be duplicates of those shown, in Fig. 6 but there is added a cam 46 in advance of the center cam, said cam 46 depressing all the needles after they have taken the yarn oi finger lid, except certain needles with extra short butts indicated at B (see Fig. 14), which needles are interspersed, among the short-butt needles 32b (and which may also in some cases be interspersed among the long butt needles of the series) according to the pattern desired. i These needles B remain elevated until they 31, as usual. The path of the'hooks'of short butt is in the lowered position of finger lie in Fig. 12

i. e., between the levels of I51: and l5d, its yarn will be taken by such needles B as pass it at this time and thus a yarn of 'special color or weight may be put into the fabric so as to make spots or figures therein which resemble wrap work figures or spots, such possibility being due to the wide space between finger l5d and the center cam.

After passing such mock wrap finger the needles are divided by cam 25b, as above described, so that all needles take the inside yarn of finger lSd, 'while only the short butt needles 82b take the splicing yarn at points where spliced areas are'to be'made.

Preferably the finger I5 is all the way down as shown in Fig. 4 but this is not essential, it being important only that the nose 20 be so located that the splicing yarn will be taken by the short butt needles and missed by the long butt needles. The size of cam-46 is somewhat exaggerated in Fig. 12 (see also Fig. 13) to enable the action on the needles to be shown more clearly and therefore finger I5 is somewhat elevated to maintain the necessary relation between nose 20 and the needle paths, the yarn fingers being also shown as somewhat spread apart for similar reasons.

Fig. 13 indicates a setup for makingthe stock- I ing 01' Fig. 10. In this case the cams 25c, 21c, 30c and 360 may be like those of Fig. 11. but a radially-movable cam 49 is added in advance of the center cam and a suitably long series of extra short butt needles C (Figs. 13 and 14) is located at the middle of the set of short butt needles 32c. Dru-ing the knitting or conventionl parts the cam 46 is retracted but when the block or narrow high splice 52 is reached the cam 46 is advanced and a finger such as llc, which is supplied with a splicing yarn at this time, is brought down'to a level below that of finger, |5d but above that of finger lid. All needles take yarn from finger lid and then all but the extra short butt needles areretracted to miss the splicing yarn of finger I50, the hooks-oi the extra short needles following path 50 and all other needles taking path 5| up to the point where they are divided by cam 250, after which the short butt. needles and the extra short butt needles take path 340. The finger I5 is outof action at this time, and all needles take the inside plating yarn of finger l5a. When block 52 is completed down to the desired level for the usual high splice the finger llis brought down and remains in action until the parts 53 and 54 are completed. If the finger I50 and the I cam 49 remain in action there is formed an extra heavy spliced area at 53, at the point where the wear due to the shoe counter is greatest, this area including the two splicing yarns of fingers l5 and lie, and the needles being divided as before so ,that the short butt needles, including the extra short butt needles B, all take the yarn of finger l5 while the long butt needles miss said yarn. It is to be understood, in accordance with the common practice in the knitting art, that in some instances twoor more yarns may be supplied by a single yarn eye or guide,

a heavier yarn for thepurpose, and the language of the claims is to be understood in that sense. Other variations of structure and in the use of both acting as one yarn and sometimes being fine yarns that supplant our invention, in addition to those herein S118- gested, will be obvious t9 those skilled in the art as falling-within the true scope of our invention, and therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as required by the state of the prior art.

Having thus fully described our said invention,

' what we claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In an independent needle knitting machine for knitting sectionally spliced fabrics, the com bination of a set of contiguous long butt needles, a set ofcontiguous short butt needles, fa yarn finger positioned to supply a plating yarn to all the needles at a high level, a yarn finger positioned to supply a splicing yarn at a lower level to the short butt needles only, a yarn' finger positioned to supply a plating yarn at a still lower level to all the needles, pattern means for holding the second named finger in active position throughout the knitting of a sectionally spliced area, and a cam set including means for lowering the long butt needles to a level where they miss the yarns of the secondnamed finger, whereby the splicing yarn is sandwiched between the yarns of the first andthird named fingers.

, 2. In a hosiery knitting machine having means independent -of the stitch cams for elevating needles individually, the combination of a pair of stitch cams normally elevating needles from idle level, one of said stitch cams being radially movable to an idle position to permit non-e1evated needles to cross its face at idle level, a set of short butt needles, a set of long butt needles,

a top center cam mounted to slide away from said radially movable cam under impact of the needles,said cam being reduced at its lower end to divide the long butt needles from the remaining needles, a yarn finger for feeding a plating yarn to all the needles except the non-elevated long butt needles, and another yarn finger for feeding a second plating yarn to all the needles, whereby float stitch patterns are made at the positions determined by non-elevation of long butt needles.

3. In a knitting machine, a set of long butt needles, a set of short butt needles, extra short butt l needles interspersed among the other needles, stitch cams, a top center cam mounted to slide laterally under the impact of the needles,

said top center cam being reduced at its lower end to divide long butt needles from the other needles, a cam having a face in advance of said top center cam, said cam being positioned so that said face will divide the extra short butt needles from the remaining needles, two spaced yarn fingers positioned to supply plating yarns to all the needles, and fingers between them adapted to supply mock wrap yarns selectively to said extra short butt needles.

' 4. In a knitting machine, a set of long butt "needles, a set of short butt needles, a set of extra short butt needles interposed midway of the set of short butt needles, stitch cams, a top center cam mounted to slide laterally under the impact of the needles, said center cam being reduced at its lower end to divide .the long butt needles from the other needles, and a radially movable cam having a face in advance of the top center cam, said cam being adapted to be positioned so that said face will divide the extra short butt needles from the remaining needles.

5. In a knitting machine, a set of long butt needles, a set of short butt needles, extra short means for isolating said extra short butt needles, and means for feeding a different yarn to said needles when so isolated.

6. A device as in claim 5, the means for feeding said different yarn. being located between said spacedapart yarn guides.

7. In' a'knitting machine, a set of long butt needles, a set of short butt needles, a set of extra short butt needles interposed midway of said set of short butt needles, spaced apart means for feeding yarns to'all the needlesin plating relation, sectional splicing means including means for feeding a splicing yarn and means for operating the needles to knit said splicing yarn between said plating yarns, means to isolate said set of extra short butt needles, and means for feeding another splicing yarn thereto so as to be knitted between said plating yarns.

8. In a circular independent needle knitting machine, aseries of needles arranged in sets, a stitch cam, means for feeding three yarns in plating relation to said needles including means for feeding a facing yarn to the needles close to' a needles to form the other face of the cloth.

9. In a hosiery knitting machine for knitting fabrics with sectionally spliced areas, needles arranged in sets having butts of different length, stitch earns, a top center cam constructed and arranged to permit needles of one set to pass at a higher level than needles of another set, a mounting for said cam permitting it to slide laterally under impact of the needle butts, feeding means comprising a set of adjacent yarn fingers, and means for holding certain of said yarn fingers in fixed position throughout the knitting of a spliced area so as to supply a splicing yarn and two body yarns in plating relation to the needles that pass the top center cam at the higher level while suppl i only the body yarns to the other needles, so as to cause a splicing yarn to be sandwiched in the spliced areas between the two other yarns plated thereon.

10. In a hosiery knitting machine for knit ting fabrics with sectionally spliced areas, needles arranged in sets having butts of different length, stitch cams, a top center cam constructed and arranged to permit needles of one set to pass at a higher level than needles of another set, feeding means comprising a set of adjacent yarn fingers,- and means for holding certain of said yarn fingers in fixed position throughout the knitting of a spliced area so as to supply inner and outer face yarns and a splicing yarn in plating relation to the needles that pass the top center cam at the higher level while supplying only the face yarns to other needles, the position of suchyarns being such that in the spliced areas a splicing yarn is sandwiched between the two other yarns plated thereon.'

1 1. In a hosiery knitting machine for knitting fabrics with sectionally spliced areas, needles aryarn feeding means for supplying inner and outer yarns and a splicing yarn in plating relation to the said needles that pass the top center cam at the higher level and to supply only the face yarns to other needles, the relation of said yarns being such that the splicing yarn is sandwiched between the two face yarns in the sectionally spliced areas. a

' 12. In a circular independent needle knitting machine, needles arranged in sets having butts of different length, a stitch cam, means for causing one set of needles to approach the stitch cam ata difierent level from other needles, and means to supply three yarns in plating relation to one set of needles while supplying only two yarns to the other needles, the relation between said yarns being such that a splicing yarn is sand-' wiched between two face yarns in vertically extending sections of the fabric, substantially as set'forth.

AZURE W. BROAD ADAM M. cox. 

